Universal roll stand

ABSTRACT

A known universal roll stand has its housing horizontally divided to facilitate removal of the horizontal axis rolls, with the housing being divided into an upper hood, a lower hood and a frame for supporting the vertical axis rolls. In order to improve the rigidity of the construction and to reduce the tipping moment, I support the upper and lower hoods by means of the frame, with the frame resting on the roll stand base plate.

United States Patent [191 [111 3,802,242 vagr 5] Apr. 9, 1974 UNIVERSAL ROLL STAND 3,260,094 7/1966 Neumann 72 237 0 Inventor: Alexandr g Hilden, Germany 3,]24982 3/1964 Neumann 7../2l [73] Assignee: g g Primary Examiner-Milton S. Mehr usse o ermany Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Holman & Stern [22] Filed: Sept. 5, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 286,339 [57] ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority Data A known universal roll stand has its housing horizon- S 6 1 971 G 21445] 1 tally divided to facilitate removal of the horizontal axis ermany rolls, with the housing being divided into an upper [52] U S C] 72/225 72/238 hood, a lower hood and a frame for supporting the [51] H0 Bzlb 31/04 vertical axis rolls. In order to improve the rigidity of [58] Fieid 72/225 241 238 the construction and to reduce the tipping moment, I support the upper and lower hoods by means of the [56] References Cited frame, with the frame resting on the roll stand base 1 t UNITED STATES PATENTS p a 6 3,098,404 7/1963 Morath et al. 72/225 10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 8 a 4 20.6 i 4 79a 5' UNIVERSAL ROLL STAND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a roll stand with sets of horizontal and vertical axis rolls having their axes in a common (transverse) plane; such a roll stand is termed a universal roll stand. The stand has a housing which is horizontally divided to facilitate removal of the horizontal axis rolls, particularly where the diameter of the horizontal axis rolls is greater than the width of windows in the housing. The roll housing is divided into an upper and lower roll support means or hoods and a unitary frame for supporting the vertical axis rolls. In this construction, screw-down spindles for the vertical axis rolls and a cross-member for absorbing the rolling forces on the horizontal axis rolls may extend out laterally beyond the window. Tie members, such as tie rods extending through the two roll support means and through the frame, secure the housing together.

PRIOR ART German Patent Specification No. 1,044,746 discloses a universal roll stand in which an enclosed vertical roll frame is inserted into an enclosed horizontal roll stand whose width corresponds to the width of the housing windows. For roll removal, the vertical roll frame together with the vertical rolls is removed to one side; this also applies to the removal of the horizontal rolls. Accordingly, if the width of the horizontal roll housing was to be dimensioned in accordance with the maximum diameter of the horizontal rolls, it would become very large so that the stand would be very heavy and would have a substantial stand stretch.

In order to avoid these disadvantages, U.S. Pat. No. 3,098,404 to Morath et al, proposes designing a universal stand as a hood housing construction in which an enclosed vertical roll frame is inserted between upper and lower parts of the housing. The entire .roll stand was combined into an integral unit by means of prestressed tie rods.

The stand is of lighter weight and is also stiffer be cause of the shorter distance between housing columns. On the other hand, the stand is relatively tall because the screw-down means are provided above and below. Removal of the horizontal rolls for the purpose of roll changing is complicated and time consuming; this is particularly disadvantageous when the rolling programme changes frequently and each change involves a change of rolls. The inlet and exit apertures of the pass section are very small because of the relatively narrow vertical roll frame so that it is difficult to accommodate guides for the rolled stock.

Removal of the vertical rolls is indeed simpler. However, because of the presence of pre-stressed tie rods, the roll stand is very expensive and the hydraulic system tends to suffer from leakages which are undesirable because of the possible accident hazard for the operators. Moreover, the stand has a relatively large tipping moment which is detrimental for the rolled product, and in particular for large cross-section products.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a roll stand comprising a set of horizontal axis rolls and a set of vertical axis rolls, the rolls having their axes in a common plane,

a housing mounting the rolls, the housing comprising an upper horizontal axis roll support means, a lower horizontal axis roll support means and a unitary frame between the two support means for supporting the vertical axis rolls, with the support means and the frame being separable to permit removal of the horizontal axis rolls, and the frame being arranged to rest on a roll stand bed for supporting the upper and lower support means, and

tie members securing the upper and lower support means and the frame together, the tie members preferably being tie rods passing through both support means and the frame, preferably rotatably supported in the frame by means of thrust and radial bearings.

Such a construction of the universal roll stand offers the advantage that the tipping moment of the housing is greatly reduced so that the stand becomes stiffer, particularly when used in continuous rolling mills. Furthermore, if the tie rods are used as part of the screwdown system, the force path of the tensile stresses imposed on the vertical housing sides is shortened. The smaller the roll screw-down, the smaller will be the housng stretch and the stiffer will be the roll stand. Since the screw-down action is applied via the sides of the roll support means to chocks of the horizontal rolls, the length of stretch between both housings is reduced and the housing height can be reduced. The inlet and outlet apertures of the pass section may be enlarged to form broader guides.

If the tie members are rotatable tie rods, they are preferably arranged such that the horizontal rolls are screwed down by forces applied directly by the tie rods through the roll support means. The internal side walls of the frame may guide the vertical adjusting motion of the horizontal rolls; thus the internal side walls of the frame can be upwardly (and downwardly) extended into the zone of the horizontal rolls so that these side walls accommodate and guide the roll chocks between them. Thrust forces from the roll support means are also supported by the frame.

If the tie members are rotatable tie rods, assemblysleeves with external screw-threading may be nonrotationally but slidably mounted on the top ends of the respective tie rods, for instance by means of keys. A separate vernier ring may be non-rotationally mounted on one or one pair of tie rods in order to indicate the amount of screw-down. The upper support means may be connected via biasing means such as diaphragm springs to a nut screwed onto the assembly sleeve, thereby stressing the nut relative to the tie rod and preventingor reducing back-lash between the tie rod and the upper support means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS One embodiment of the invention will be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a universal stand in accordance with the invention, partly in vertical section;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the universal stand, partly in vertical section; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the universal stand, partly in horizontal section.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A roll frame 1 for the vertical axis rolls, closed in terms of forces acting thereon, is a supporting element of the roll stand and has support means in the form of support feet bearing on baseplates 2 forming the roll stand bed. An upper housing hood 3 or upper roll support means is formed by two inter-connected crossmembers, and a lower housing hood 4 or lower support means is likewise formed by two inter-connected crossmembers; the hoods 3 and 4 are disposed symmetrically relative to the horizontal plane of symmetry. The cross-members together with tie rods 5 absorb the rolling forces associated with horizontal rolls 7, 8. The tie rods 5 are rotationally supported in thrust and radial bearings 32, 33 in the vertical roll frame 1. The upper horizontal roll 7 is inserted into chocks 7a in the upper hood 3 and the lower horizontal roll 8 is inserted into chocks 8a in the lower hood 4.

Vertical rolls 12, 13 are guided by chocks 10, 11 for sliding movement with respect to the vertical roll frame 1 in a horizontal plane at right angles to the rolling axis L. For screwing down the vertical rolls l2, 13, each laterally projecting end of the vertical roll frame carries a separate screw-down motor 15, 16, with each motor being in driving connection with a pair of screw-down spindles whose heads engage the respective chocks l0, 11 (FIGS. 2 and 3). The screw-down spindles 17 can rotate but cannot move axially. The internal side walls la of the vertical roll frame 1 are extended so that the checks 7a, 8a of the horizontal rolls 7, 8 are guided between the side walls 1a.

Adjacent the hoods 3, 4, the tie rods 5 are provided with right-hand screw-threading 18a or left-hand screw-threading 19a respectively to enable the horizontal rolls 7, 8 to be adjusted. Corresponding thrust nuts 18, 19 are non-rotationally mounted in the hoods 3, 4, the upper thrust nuts 18 being slidable in a vertical direction. Simultaneous rotation of the four tie rods 5 enables the hoods 3, 4 to be adjusted symmetrically relative to the rolling line L. The chocks 7a, 8a of the horizontal rolls 7, 8 bear via abutment means in the form of convex-shaped thrust elements 20a, 20b on the hoods 3, 4, in the direction in which the rolling force is applied. The dead weight of the lower horizontal roll 8 is carried on the lower hood 4 while the upper horizontal roll 7 is pulled against its dead weight to the upper hood 3 by means of hydraulic cylinders 21.

' The checks 8a of the lower horizontal rolls 8 are narrower than the chocks 7a of the upper horizontal rolls 7 to facilitate removal of the horizontal rolls 7, 8 in the upward direction.

The screw-down position for the horizontal rolls 7, 8 is indicated by means of a vernier system including a graduated collar 22 which is non-rotationally mounted on one of the four tie rods 5 adjacent the vertical roll frame 1.

A screw-down motor 23, mounted below the lower hood 4, transmits the screw-down motion of the tie rods 5 through bevel and worm gear transmissions 24, 25 to the tie rods 5 and the hoods 3, 4 for the purpose of adjusting the horizontal rolls 7, 8.

An assembly sleeve 27 is non-rotationally mounted on the top end of each tie rod 5 by means of a shaft key 28 on an extension of the screw-threaded portion 18a of the tie rod 5 adjacent the thrust nuts 18. In an extension of the screw-threaded portion 18a, the assembly sleeve 27 is provided with external screw-threading 27a on which a nut 30 is screwed; the nut 30 thrusts the upper hood 3 and the upper horizontal roll 7 and chocks 7a upwardly by means of diaphragm springs 31 in order to remove back-lash at thescrew-threading 18a of the tie rods 5. The diaphragm springs 31 areheld down by the top, radially inwardly directed flange of a retainer cap 34 having a cover 35. The bottom radially directed flange of the cap 34 is bolted to the upper hood 3.

When the'horizontal rolls 7, 8 are adjusted, the thrust nuts l8, 19 move adjacent along the screw-threaded portions 18a, 19a of the tie rods 5.

However, if the rolls are to be changed, the retainer caps are unbolted and the tie rods 5 are rotated so that each thrust nut 18 is moved upwards onto the screwthreading 27a of the assembly sleeve 27. The upper hood 3 may then be lifted off upwardly by means of a crane or hoist. This is followed by removal of the upper horizontal roll 7 after releasing the hydraulic cylinder 21 so that the chocks 7a of the upper horizontal roll 7 bear on the vertical rolls 12, 13. The vertical rolls 12, 13 and the lower horizontal roll 8 together with the associated chocks 8a are then removed. New rolls are installed in the corresponding manner.

Although the roll stand is a universal stand without pro-stressed tie rods, it is nevertheless characterized by low housing stretch due to the short length of the rolling force paths in the roll stands. This is achieved because the horizontal rolls are adjusted by the tie rods 5 through the upper and lower hoods 3, 4, thus eliminating housing stretch in the roll housing sections responsible for the magnitude of such stretch when screw-down is applied from above or below. The overall height of the stand is relatively small. Furthermore, owing to the vertical roll frame 1 being mounted on the baseplates 2, such a roll stand has an exceptionally low tipping moment. Finally, due to its advantageous mounting on the tie rods 5 by means of the assembly sleeves 27, the upperhood 3 may be removed very easily and quickly for the purpose of changing the rolls. The roll stand is easily accessible and inspected since the screw-down drive for the horizontal rolls 7, 8 is disposed on only one side. Thus the invention can provide a light-weight, simply-constructed, rigid and reliable but inexpensive universal roll stand having a good stiffness-weight ratio.

I claim:

1. A roll stand comprising a'set of horizontal axis rolls and a set of vertical axis rolls, the rolls having their axes in a common plane,

chock means mounting said horizontal axis rolls,

chock means mounting said vertical axis rolls,

a housing mounting said roll chock means and thereby said rolls, said housing comprising an upper horizontal axis roll chock means support means, a lower horizontal axis roll chock means support means and a unitary frame between said upper and lower support means for supporting said vertical axis roll chock means, said support means and said frame being separable to permit removal of said horizontal axis rolls, said upper support means and said frame, and said lower support means and said frame defining therebetween respective windows, said windows having a width less than the diameter of said horizontal axis rolls, said frame projecting laterally beyond said windows and said frame having support means for supporting said frame directly on baseplate means,

tie rods passing through said frame and securing said upper and lower support means and said frame together,

baseplate means for supporting said frame support means, means mounting said tie rods in said frame to permit rotary movement of said tie rods but to prevent axial movement thereof,

screw-down means securing said tie rods to said upper and lower support means, whereby rotation of said tie rods adjusts the vertical position of said horizontal axis rolls symmetrically with respect to the rolling axis of said roll stand, and whereby the weight of said upper and said lower support means and of said rolls is borne by said frame and thereby by said frame support means,

screw-down drive means for rotating said tie rods and thereby adjusting the vertical position-of said horizontal axis rolls, and

screw-down means and drive means for adjusting the lateral position of said vertical axis rolls, which screw-down means comprises screw-down spindles projecting laterally beyond said windows.

2. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 1, wherein said frame has internal side walls guiding vertical adjusting motion of said horizontal rolls.

3. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidscrew-down means securing said tie rods to said upper and lower support means comprise external screw-threading on upper end portions of said tie rods and internally threaded members engaging with said external screw-threading and associated with said upper support means, and wherein said roll stand further comprises assembly sleeves with external screwthreading non-rotationally but slidably mounted on the top ends of respective said tie rods, said external screwtheading of the assembly sleeves being substantially the same as said external screw-threading of said upper end portions of said tie rods, whereby, prior to removal of said upper support means, said internally-threaded members are rotated to move up onto said assembly sleeves.

4. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 3, wherein said upper horizontal axis support means and said lower horizontal axis support means comprise abutment means bearing respectively downwardly on said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and upwardly on said lower horizontal axis roll chock means and tensioning means interconnecting said upper horizontal axis support means and said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and carrying at least part of the weight of said upper horizontal axis roll.

5. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 3, and further comprising a nut screwed onto each said assembly sleeve, biasing means associated with each said nut, said upper support means being connected via said bi- LII asing means to each said nut thereby stressing each said nut relative to the respective said tie rod and preventing or reducing back-lash between said tie rod and said upper support means,

6. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 5, wherein said upper horizontal axis support means and said lower horizontal axis support means comprise abutment means bearing respectively downwardly on said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and upwardly on said lower horizontal axis roll chock means, and tensioning means interconnecting said upper horizontal axis support means and said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and carrying at least part of the weight of said upper horizontal axis roll.

7. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 2, wherein said screw-down means securing said tie rods to said upper and lower support means comprise enternal screw-threading on upper end portions of said tie rods and internally-threaded members engaging with said external screw-threading and associated with said upper support means, and wherein said roll stand further comprises assembly sleeves with external screwthreading non-rotationally but slidably mounted on the top ends of respective said tie rods, said external screwthreading of the assembly sleeves being substantially the same as said external screw-threading of said upper end portions of said tie rods, whereby, prior to removal of said upper support means, said internally threaded members are rotated to move up onto said assembly sleeves.

8. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 7, and further comprising a nut screwed onto each said assembly sleeve, biasing means associated with each said nut, said upper support means being connected via said biasing means to each said nut thereby stressing each said nut relative to the respective said tie rod and preventing or reducing back-lash between said tie rod and said upper support means.

9. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 8 wherein said upper horizontal axis support means and said lower horizontal axis support means comprise abutment means bearing respectively downwardly on said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and upwardly on said lower horizontal axis roll chock means, and tensioning means interconnecting said upper horizontal axis support means and said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and carrying at least part of the weight of said upper horizontal axis roll.

10. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 1, wherein said upper horizontal axis support means and said lower horizontal axis support means comprise abutment means bearing respectively downwardly on said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and upwardly on said lower horizontal axis roll chock means, and tensioning means interconnecting said upper horizontal axis support means and said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and carrying at least part of the weight of said upper horizontal axis roll. 

1. A roll stand comprising a set of horizontal axis rolls and a set of vertical axis rolls, the rolls having their axes in a common plane, chock means mounting said horizontal axis rolls, chock means mounting said vertical axis rolls, a housing mounting said roll chock means and thereby said rolls, said housing comprising an upper horizontal axis roll chock means support means, a lower horizontal axis roll chock means support means and a unitary frame between said upper and lower support means for supporting said vertical axis roll chock means, said support means and said frame being separable to permit removal of said horizontal axis rolls, said upper support means and said frame, and said lower support means and said frame defining therebetween respective windows, said windows having a width less than the diameter of said horizontal axis rolls, said frame projecting laterally beyond said windows and said frame having support means for supporting said frame directly on baseplate means, tie rods passing through said frame and securing said upper and lower support means and said frame together, baseplate means for supporting said frame support means, means mounting said tie rods in said frame to permit rotary movement of said tie rods but to prevent axial movement thereof, screw-down means securing said tie rods to said upper and lower support means, whereby rotation of said tie rods adjusts the vertical position of said horizontal axis rolls symmetrically with respect to the rolling axis of said roll stand, and whereby the weight of said upper and said lower support means and of said rolls is borne by said frame and thereby by said frame support means, screw-down drive means for rotating said tie rods and thereby adjusting the vertical position of said horizontal axis rolls, and screw-down means and drive means for adjusting the lateral position of said vertical axis rolls, which screw-down means comprises screw-down spindles projecting laterally beyond said windows.
 2. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 1, wherein said frame has internal side walls guiding vertical adjusting motion of said horizontal rolls.
 3. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 1, wherein said screw-down means securing said tie rods to said upper and lower support means comprise external screw-threading on upper end portions of said tie rods and internally threaded members engaging with said external screw-threading and associated with said upper support means, and wherein said roll stand further comprises assembly sleeves with external screw-threading non-rotationally but slidably mounted on the top ends of respective said tie rods, said external screw-tHeading of the assembly sleeves being substantially the same as said external screw-threading of said upper end portions of said tie rods, whereby, prior to removal of said upper support means, said internally-threaded members are rotated to move up onto said assembly sleeves.
 4. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 3, wherein said upper horizontal axis support means and said lower horizontal axis support means comprise abutment means bearing respectively downwardly on said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and upwardly on said lower horizontal axis roll chock means and tensioning means interconnecting said upper horizontal axis support means and said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and carrying at least part of the weight of said upper horizontal axis roll.
 5. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 3, and further comprising a nut screwed onto each said assembly sleeve, biasing means associated with each said nut, said upper support means being connected via said biasing means to each said nut thereby stressing each said nut relative to the respective said tie rod and preventing or reducing back-lash between said tie rod and said upper support means.
 6. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 5, wherein said upper horizontal axis support means and said lower horizontal axis support means comprise abutment means bearing respectively downwardly on said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and upwardly on said lower horizontal axis roll chock means, and tensioning means interconnecting said upper horizontal axis support means and said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and carrying at least part of the weight of said upper horizontal axis roll.
 7. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 2, wherein said screw-down means securing said tie rods to said upper and lower support means comprise enternal screw-threading on upper end portions of said tie rods and internally-threaded members engaging with said external screw-threading and associated with said upper support means, and wherein said roll stand further comprises assembly sleeves with external screw-threading non-rotationally but slidably mounted on the top ends of respective said tie rods, said external screw-threading of the assembly sleeves being substantially the same as said external screw-threading of said upper end portions of said tie rods, whereby, prior to removal of said upper support means, said internally threaded members are rotated to move up onto said assembly sleeves.
 8. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 7, and further comprising a nut screwed onto each said assembly sleeve, biasing means associated with each said nut, said upper support means being connected via said biasing means to each said nut thereby stressing each said nut relative to the respective said tie rod and preventing or reducing back-lash between said tie rod and said upper support means.
 9. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 8 wherein said upper horizontal axis support means and said lower horizontal axis support means comprise abutment means bearing respectively downwardly on said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and upwardly on said lower horizontal axis roll chock means, and tensioning means interconnecting said upper horizontal axis support means and said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and carrying at least part of the weight of said upper horizontal axis roll.
 10. The universal roll stand as claimed in claim 1, wherein said upper horizontal axis support means and said lower horizontal axis support means comprise abutment means bearing respectively downwardly on said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and upwardly on said lower horizontal axis roll chock means, and tensioning means interconnecting said upper horizontal axis support means and said upper horizontal axis roll chock means and carrying at least part of the weight of said upper horizontal axis roll. 